Fabric conditioning for improved softening and antistatic properties is normally achieved by any of the general methods including, for example, the addition of a fabric softening agent to the rinse cycle of a normal wash routine; the use of a substrate impregnated with a fabric conditioner composition for use in the dryer where the fabric conditioning agent is transferred to the clothes in the dryer; and the inclusion of the fabric softening agent with a detergent formulation for the wash cycle.
Commercial fabric conditioner formulations are most commonly based on quaternary ammonium salts. Formulations for use in the final clear water rinse, and dryer and detergent softeners, are normally based on difatty dimethyl quaternary salts, for example, dihydrogenated tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride (Adogen 442, Sherex Chemical Co., Inc.) or diamidoamine quaternary (Varisoft 222 Sherex Chemical Co., Inc.) or imidazoline based quaternaries.
Within recent years, there has developed a need for fabric softening compositions with faster biodegradation. Quaternary compounds with long chain alkenyl groups interrupted by ester groups are known, from e.g., French Patent 1,593,921. Softening compositions containing such materials are disclosed in European Patent No. 0 040 562.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,547 claims to attain rapid biodegradation by the inclusion of ester groups in long chain substituents of quaternary ammonium compounds. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,391 discloses esters based on hydroxyalkyl ammonium quaternary salts. U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,554 describes the reaction of a piperazine with polybasic acids to form polyamides with specific reference to the reaction between polybasic acids and hydroxyethyl piperazine wherein the amide formation is carried out under conditions which inhibit esterification of the hydroxy group.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,069 and 3,980,643 disclosed the preparation of esters of hydroxyalkylpiperazine using conditions which result in esterification with no amide formation.
There are numerous references to the reaction of lactones with amines leading to the corresponding hydroxyamides. U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,394 discloses many references having to do with the reaction between lactones and polyamines, and specifically discloses reaction of a monoamide of a polyamine with butyrolactone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,988 discloses and claims imidazoline structures having groups obtainable via lactone condensations. U.S. Pat. No. 3, 436,463 discloses the procedures and products obtained from the reaction of lactones with diamines, triamines, hydroxyalkyldiamines, and morpholine. U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,771 discloses the reaction of the mono fatty acid amide of ethylene diamine with lactones to form the hydroxy amide.